George Abbott, John Les, Mary McNeil To Resign From BC Liberals Thursday

VICTORIA - Three more members of Premier Christy Clark's British Columbia Liberal government are set to announce their intentions to leave politics.

Government sources have told The Canadian Press that Education Minister George Abbott, Children and Family Development Minister Mary McNeil and John Les, parliamentary secretary to the premier, will announce on Thursday they won't seek re-election in the May provincial election.

The three resignations come less than 24 hours after former finance minister Kevin Falcon stepped down from cabinet and said he won't be running in the spring.

Abbott and McNeil have been signalling for months they have been pondering their political futures, but the pending departure of Les comes as a surprise.

Abbott is a four-term Liberal who ran for the party leadership last year, placing third behind Clark and Falcon.

McNeil, first elected in 2009, has been saying she wanted to spend more time with her grandchildren, while Les, first elected in 2001, served as solicitor general and minister responsible for small business and economic development.